Derry City and Galway United are separated by just three points in the bottom half of the Irish Premier League standings and will face off at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium on Friday. The home team has dropped to sixth place after two consecutive defeats, while the visitors have won two games in recent weeks to narrow the gap with the home team.

Derry City will play at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium on Friday, aiming to recover from two consecutive defeats and return to the top of the Irish Premier League after a slump in recent weeks. In May, the Candystripes won three games in a row and ranked second with 26 points from the first 15 games with a record of 8 wins and 5 losses, but they have played three more games since then and have only added one point.

Dom Thomas scored in injury time to level the score at 1-1 early on, while Tiernan Lynch's side suffered two defeats in a row, first at home to Shamrock Rovers, where they lost 2-​​1 despite leading 1-0 through Danny Mullen with 20 minutes remaining. Michael Noonan equalised and Aaron McNeff scored with a minute left to give the visitors all three points, before the Candystripes' most recent visit to Bohemians came in late May, where they came away empty-handed, with Dale Rooney scoring the only goal early on from a penalty.

City of Derry currently sit sixth in the Irish top flight, but are only three points behind Drogheda United and Bohemians in second and third place, and will aim to end their run of form and get back in the lead with a win on Friday. Meanwhile, their visitors will aim to overtake their hosts and continue their good run of form after a recent slump.

A win in late April lifted Galway United to second place in the Irish Premier League with 20 points from their first 12 games, but they suffered four straight defeats in their next four games. The Tribe ended that slump at home to Cork City last month, with Connor McCormack scoring in the 84th minute to give the club a 2-1 win after Moses Dale's opener was cancelled out.

John Caulfield's side last visited league leaders Shamrock Rovers and earned a point in a convincing 0-0 draw. They currently sit seventh in the table, three points behind fifth-placed Shelbourne and Friday's hosts. Another win would see them aim to make it three games unbeaten and move into the top half of the table.

Derry City predicted starting lineup:

Mahill; R. Boyce, Cann, Connolly, Holt, Todd; O'Reilly, Winchester, McMullen; Mullen, L. Boyce

Galway United predicted starting lineup:

Watts; Esua, Buckley, Slavin, Cunningham; Boden, Burn, Hickey; Hurley, Dale, McCarthy